科学和怪物

原作節选

I worked harder and harder now. I slept for only a short time each night， and I did not eat much food. I wrote to my family less often. But they loved me and did not stop writing to me. They said they understood how busy I was. They did not want me to stop work to write or to see them. They would wait until I had more time. They hoped to see me very soon.

The professors realized that I was doing very important work， and so they gave me my own laboratory. There was a small flat above the laboratory， where I lived， and sometimes I stayed inside the building for a week and did not go out.

Above the laboratory I built a very tall mast1. It was 150 metres high， and higher than the tallest building in the city. The mast could catch lightning and could send the electricity2 down to my machine in the laboratory. I had never forgotten the lightning that had destroyed the tree. There had been so much power in the electricity of that lightning. I believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead.

I will say no more than that. The secret of my machine must die with me. I was a very clever scientist， but I did not realize then what a terrible mistake I was making.

In my laboratory I made a body. I bought or stole all the pieces of human body that I needed， and slowly and carefully， I put them all together.

I did not let anybody enter3 my laboratory or my flat while I was doing this awful4 work. I was afraid to tell anybody my terrible secret.

I had wanted to make a beautiful man， but the face of the creature5 was horrible. Its skin was thin and yellow， and its eyes were as yellow as its skin. Its long black hair and white teeth were almost beautiful， but the rest of the face was very ugly.

Its legs and arms were the right shape， but they were huge. I had to use big pieces because it was too difficult to join small pieces together. My creature was two and a half metres tall.

For a year I had worked to make this creature， but now it looked terrible and frightening6. I almost decided to destroy7 it. But I could not. I had to know if I could put life into it.

I joined the body to the wires from my machine. More wires joined the machine to the mast. I was sure that my machine could use electricity from lightning to give life to the body. I watched and waited. Two days later I saw dark clouds in the sky， and I knew that a storm was coming. At about one oclock in the morning the lightning came. My mast began to do its work immediately8， and the electricity from the lightning traveled down the mast to my machine. Would the machine work？

At first nothing happened. But after a few minutes I saw the creatures body begin to move. Slowly， terribly， the body came alive. His arms and legs began to move， and slowly he sat up.

The dead body had been an ugly thing， but alive， he was much more horrible. Suddenly I wanted to escape from him. I ran out of the laboratory， and locked the door. I was filled with fear at what I had done.

For hours I walked up and down in my flat. At last I lay down on my bed， and fell asleep. But my sleep was full of terrible dreams， and I woke up suddenly. The horrible thing that I had created was standing by my bed. His yellow eyes were looking at me； his mouth opened and he made strange sounds at me. On his yellow face there was an awful smile. One of his huge hands reached towards me…

现在我工作越来越努力。每天晚上我只睡很短的时间，吃的东西也很少。我给家里写的信更少了。但家里人爱我，他们没有停止给我写信。他们说他们理解我有多忙。他们不想让我停止工作而去给他们写信或是去看望他们。他们愿意等到我有时间的时候再说。他们希望很快见到我。

教授们意识到我在从事一项重要的工作，因而给了我一间实验室。实验室的上面有一个小套房，我就住在里面。有时候，我一个星期都待在那座建筑物里不出去。

我在实验室的上方建起一个很高的杆子。它有150米高，比全城最高的建筑物还要高。那个杆子能够“捕获”闪电，并把电送到我实验室的机器上。我从未忘记摧毁那棵树的闪电。那次闪电中的电曾有那么大的力量。我相信我可以利用电给无生命的东西注入生命。

我不想再多说什么。我的机器的秘密必须随我一起消亡。我是个很聪明的科学家，可我那时没有意识到自己在犯多么可怕的错误。

我在实验室造了一个人体。我所需要的人体各部分均是买来或偷来的，然后我缓慢而细心地把它们拼凑到一起。

在干这项可怕的工作时，我没有让任何人进入过实验室和我的住处。我不敢告诉任何人那可怕的秘密。

我曾想造一个漂亮的男人，但这个家伙的脸非常可怕：皮肤又薄又黄，眼睛同皮肤一样黄。黑长的头发和白色的牙齿倒也漂亮，脸上的其余部分却很丑陋。

它的腿和胳膊的形状是对的，但它们太大了。因为拼接小片的人体太困难，我只得用大片的去拼接。我创造的这个东西有2.5米高。

我曾为制造这个东西工作了一年时间，现在它看上去却恐怖吓人。我几乎决定要毁了它。但我做不到。我必须知道我是否能将生命植入其中。

我把那个身体同我机器上的那些电线连接起来。更多的电线再把机器和杆子连接起来。我确信我的机器可以用闪电给那个身体生命。我观察着、等待着。两天后，我看到天上有了乌云，知道将有一场暴风雨来临。大约在凌晨1点，闪电闪了一下。我的桿子立即开始工作，闪电通过杆子传到了我的机器上。机器会管用吗？

起先没有发生什么。但几分钟过后，我看见那个东西的躯体在动。那具躯体缓慢而可怕地变活了。他的胳膊和腿开始移动，而且他慢慢地坐了起来。

那个无生命的躯体本来就可怕，而现在变成活的，就更加恐怖了。突然间我想逃开。我跑出实验室并且锁上门。我对我所做的一切充满恐惧。

有好几个小时我都在房间里走来走去，最后我躺倒在床上并睡着了。可是噩梦萦绕着我，我猛然醒了过来。我所创造的那个可怕的东西正站在我的床边，他黄色的眼睛看着我。他的嘴张着，并对我发出奇怪的声音。他黄色的脸庞上露出可怕的笑容。他的一只大手伸向了我……

Tips

●Frankenstein： 弗兰肯斯坦，小说主人公的名字。出于对科学的盲目追求，他制造了似人的怪物，并因此丧命。这个词也成为了常用的英文典故。人们用Frankenstein，Frankenstein monster或Frankensteins monster（弗兰肯斯坦的怪物）来指代威胁其创造者的东西。例如：Many people think that the atomic bomb is a Frankenstein monster.（很多人认为，人类制造原子弹是自招灭亡。）类似的人名典故还有：Pandoras box（潘多拉之盒），指灾难、麻烦、祸害的根源；Uncle Tom（汤姆叔叔），指逆来顺受的人。

●laboratory： 实验室，简写为lab。英文中经常会将一个较长的单词裁减为一个简单易懂的词，例如refrigerator→fridge冰箱； automobile → auto汽车。

玛丽·雪莱

去年年底，“基因编辑婴儿事件”的出现引发了一场关于科学与生命伦理的大讨论。许多人提到赫胥黎（Huxley）那本著名的长篇小说《美丽新世界》（Brave New World）。书中描绘了一个想象中的未来世界，人类在严密的科学控制下，在工厂中被整齐划一地制造出来。事实上，最早讲述“人造人”的故事，并对人类滥用科学技术可能带来的后果进行反思的，是19世纪英国女作家玛丽·雪莱（Mary Shelley）。

《弗兰肯斯坦》（Frankenstein）又译作《科学怪人》，是玛丽·雪莱的第一部小说，也是其最为人熟知并称道的作品。自1818年初次出版，它被多次改编为戏剧、电影，影响巨大，被誉为世界首部科幻小说、最杰出的哥特式浪漫主义作品。其中的科学怪人形象在西方更是家喻户晓，成为与吸血鬼、木乃伊、狼人等并肩的西方“鬼怪”、文化符号。

故事中，弗兰肯斯坦是一位年轻科学家的名字，即维克多·弗兰肯斯坦（Victor Frankenstein）。他出身名门，刻苦勤奋，却狂热于生命起源的研究，妄图利用最新的生物学知识征服死亡。在大学的秘密实验室里，维克多利用从停尸间采集的人类肢体和器官，拼接出一具人体，并利用雷电赋予其生命。可当这人形躯体睁开眼的那一刻，走火入魔的维克多才意识到“造人”行为的愚蠢。眼见他的创造物身高二米五，面容可怖，形同怪物（the monster），维克多逃走了，怪物也不知所踪。可对维克多及其家人来说，真正的灾难才刚刚开始。

本期节选段落描写的正是维克多以第一人称叙述的“造人”经过。字里行间不难看出，这位年轻的科学家对知识的追寻近乎疯狂。他怀着巨大的好奇心探索未知的力量，想为世界揭示生命最深层的奥秘。身为科学家，这份强烈的渴望与求知欲好似一把双刃剑，出于善意或无辜的举动，若不考虑社会责任和影响，也许会带来无法把控的骇人后果。正如开头提到的基因技术，正如弗兰肯斯坦创造的怪物。

（王希茜 / 赏析）